A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

prove with a new pure life that they were serious about a godly walk."39 The joy of their newfound faith, however, soon found expression in emotional excesses. Their ethical lapses were inconsistent with their profession of faith. Leaders of the new group denounced the faith and practice of the mother church. The gift of tongues was em- phasized. Improprieties occurred between men and women. Moderating efforts on the part of Elder Hildebrand failed, John B, Toews notes that "radical leadership encouraged the sister kiss, loud hallelujahs, lively rhythms beat on pots and pans during worship and the destruction of everything associ- ated with the old piety/40 This was not unlike the imbalances that appeared in the early years of the Mennonite Brethren 11 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH when emotional excesses also overcame the new group of believers who were searching for direction in their newfound faith amid the stress of persecution and harassment by their own Mennonite people/1 THE SECESSION DOCUMENT Bible study groups continued to nourish the inner life of the people who had experienced personal salvation, Of these meetings Jacob Reimer, a leader in the early Mennonite Brethren Church who attended regularly, wrote: Our purpose was to strengthen one another in the faith, to take cognizance of or admonish one another to con- duct ourselves as worthy members of the body of Christ, whose treasure is in heaven, not on earth. We also want- ed to learn to know each other in our depravity and Christ in His boundless love,42 Fie went on to say that As our fellowship established itself more firmly upon the Word of God, there arose in us the desire to celebrate the Lord's Supper more often, and we asked our Elder Lenz- mann to break bread more often, even if this had to be done here and there in the homes, as they did in the Acts of the Apostles 2:46-47." When the request was denied, the group proceeded indepen- dently. In November 1859 it met for its first communion ser- vice without an officiating elder This separate communion service added to the mounting tensions in the Gnadenfeld church. At a congregational meet- ing on December 19, 1859, Jacob Reimer and johann Claassen were openly challenged to leave the church. They did so, along with ten others.*1 Community ostracism followed shortly, 12 A PHENOMENON OF RENEWAL For their future fellowship a formal organization was nec- essary. On January 6, I860 a secession document prepared by Abraham Corneken of Elizabethtal was reviewed by the other dissenters. After a prayer meeting that